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What Can the Teacher Do
for the Deficient Child?

A MANUAL FOR TEACHERS
IN RURAL AND GRADED SCHOOLS

ARNOLD GESELL, M. D.

School PaychologiBl for the Slate board of education

'ji'

1918

State Board of Education

Harlford, Connecticul

• •

• • • •
• • • • •

• •

•••

• • • •

• • •

• •

Members

of the

State Board of Education

1918

Marcus H Holcomb Governor

Clifford B Wilson Lieut-Governor

Schuyler Merritt .

Edward D Robbins .

Charles F Smith

Howell Cheney

Dr John G Stanton

South ington
Bridgeport
Stamford
New Haven
New Britain'
South Manchester
New London

OFFICE

Room 42 State Capitol Hartford

258010

k *

May 1918

CONNECTICUT SCHOOL DOCUMENT

No. 5-1918
WHOLE NUMBER 425

WHAT CAN THE TEACHER DO

FOR

THE DEFICIENT CHILD?

A brief manual of e;xplanations and suggestions concerning
extremely backward children in rural, village and city, schools,
who cannot have the benefit of training in a special class.

In three parts

I A primer of questions and answers on mental deficiency

II Illustrative case studies of deficient school children

III Suggestions for a special program for the deficient child
child

Arnold Gesell M D

School Psychologist for
the State Board of Education
of Connecticut

PART I

A primer of questions and answers concerning the problem

of mental deficiency

* • • • ,

"" o -

■^ a o

o n
O t

a I

o o

o o O o

jD(9^^ f/i^ regular teacher have any responsibility in the problem

of mental deficiency f

All students of the subject agree that mental deficiency is
one of the greatest of our social problems. They also agree that
the problem is so complex and many sided that there is no one
simple remedy for it. The doctors alone cannot solve this prob-
lem; the psychologists alone cannot solve it; state institutions
and special class teachers cannot meet the whole situation. Many
minds and many hands must combine in lending assistance to the
deficient school child.'^The regular teacher has a part to play.

Some one asks, Why not exclude all mentally deficient chil-
dren from the public schools? The answer is, It cannot, at least
now, be done. We do not have the legal machinery nor the public
opinion to make it at all practical. There are a few exceptions,
when for peculiar reasons a child is an intolerable burden in
school, or a positive menace to other children. In such rare cases
exclusion is the only measure.

For a long time to come, then, there will be feebleminded
children in the rural schools, and in the regular classes of village
schools and in many of the regular classes of our city schools.
There is no reason for believing or even hoping that all these
abnormally backward children will be conveniently excluded
from the schools. There is no reason for thinking that they will
all be assigned to special state institutions. In the great majority
of cases mentally deficient children are destined to be reared in
the communities where their normal brothers and sisters are
attending school.

Let us admit that a special class, small in numbers, with a
special teacher, and a special program and equipment all adapted
to laggard minds, is the ideal arrangement for subnormal chil-
dren. Let us also admit, and just as freely, that we cannot ex-
pect too much of a regular teacher. Her responsibilities lie
chiefly with the normal children, and she is even open to criticism
if she gives a very disproportionate amount of attention to the
deficient child. What we are pleading for is that this child de-
serves at least a little more than the average share of attention,
and that this attention should be wisely directed. Our aim, in
this booklet of explanations and suggestions, is to help the regu-

o o

.• •

• •• • •

.• •• •

• • • •

• • •

••• • •
• • ••• •

lar teacher to meet her responsibihty in a situation which she is
bound to face.

And what is the best way to help her? We hope it is, by.
making her natural interest an intelligent one : by indicating what
can and what cannot be done, so that she will not do herself an
injustice with standards either too high or- too low, as the case
may be. Wt know only too well the aggravations and difficulties
which often lie in her way ; but we are also sure that it is a real,
human problem, and that there are rewards in meeting it.

IVJiat is mental deficiency f

This, naturally, is the first question. Mental deficiency is
something more than ordinary backwardness in studies ; and it
is something different. Ordinary backwardness is comparatively
not very serious. A merely backward pupil will not graduate at
the average age ; but there is no reason to believe that he will not
succeed in life. Ordinary backwardness is usually curable. It is
due to causes which can be remedied or removed. It is due to
irregular attendance, to poor nutrition, to adenoids, to haphazard
schooling, j^oor teaching, defective vision, lack of familiarity with
our language, and a long list of other causes w^iich retard but
do not altogether destroy normal development.

Now, a mentally deficient child does not even have the
possibilities of normal development. His retardation is perma-
nent, and it is incurable. He may have poor eyesight and many
other defects, but they are not the cause of his deficiency. In
about eight cases out of ten his backwardness is inborn; it is an
hereditary handicaj). In the other two or three cases out of the
ten it has been an injury from disease or some other cause which
so damaged his immature brain that he can not enjoy normal
mental development. Like a plant that has been stunted, he fails
to reach a full mental stature. He, therefore, shows a certain
lack of mental vigor, and always a kind of immaturity. Un-
fortunately we cannot in any way remove such a fundamental
weakness and incompleteness. It is because the brain itself is
incompletely developed that we cannot make him normal. We
must admit, then, that mental deficiency is an extreme, constitu-
tional form of backwardness which dates from birth or early
infancy, and which is so serious that it will prevent the child

from taking his place either in school, or in the world, on a par
with his normal fellows.

What are the causes of mental deficiency f

x\s already suggested, they are chiefly hereditary. In about
75% of the cases the mental deficiency traces back to a defect in
one or two of the parental germ cells from which the individual
was developed. The chief cause of feeblemindedness is feeble-
mindedness. If both parents are feebleminded the children are
bound to be so; if only one parent is feebleminded some of the
children or grandchildren are likely to be so. Sometimes, even
in hereditary feeblemindedness there is no defect apparent in the
father or mother. There is, however, a mental or nervous defect
of some kind somewhere in the family strain, which accounts
for the condition. How important alcohol and syphilis are in the
production of inherited feeblemindedness is not fully known.

In about one case out of four, mental deficiency is due to
some damage to the child's organism, either in the prenatal
period, during birth, or in infancy. A direct injury to the braiii
by i^folonged pressure or by a fall may be the cause, though
these cases are not numerous. In other instances the poison of
severe infectious diseases may irreparably damage the growing
brain cells causing mental deficiency. Or the brain and its mem-
branes (the meninges) may be affected by a disease like cerebro-
spinal meningitis. Finally, if a child has frequent epileptic con-
vulsions in his early years the after effect may be mental de-
ficiency.

In t-he great majority of cases feeblemindedness is due to
ancestral factors, and is transmissable. It is a pity and a menace
that so many feebleminded have the opportunity to marry and
thus pass on the tradition.

Does the mentally deficient child look subnormal? ^ ^

Sometimes ; but, by no means necessarily. In countenance,
facial ex2)ression, and ordinary demeanor, he often is indistin-
guishable from normal children. It is rather dangerous to judge
too much l)y physical a2:)i:)ea ranee. A child may look "queer" or
defective and yet be perfectly normal. Alisshapen head, small

head girth, over-large or deformed ears, poorly formed nose,
open mouth, coarse flabby skin, thick, stumpy fingers, "peculiar"
hands, weak hand grasp, generally stupid expression, — these and
other physical signs have importance only when they are com-
bined with mental inferiority. It is much safer and more
scientific for the teacher to pay attention to how a child uses his
body and his hands, how he walks, climbs stairs, handles things;
how he plays and works. For, after all, it is his mental char-
acteristics, and his behavior, that count.

^ What is the chief weakness of the deficient child f

First and foremost, he is deficient in inteUigence. This is
his fundamental defect. By mental deficiency we mean deficiency
of intelligence. Intelligence is the most practical aspect of the
mind. It is the capacity to profit by experience and the power to
make adaptations to new situations as they arise, or even before
they arise. It is that mental part of us which means preparedness
to meet the demands of life. And this is just w^hat the mentally
deficient child lacks. To be sure, he has some intelligence ; but
he does not have a normal amount. He is not strong minded
like his normal companions; he is so feeble of mind that he
falls far behind in the race. He falls behind his grade in school.
When he grows up he keeps on falling behind. He will stumbk
into difficulties; he may fail altogether in the struggle for exist-
ence as he has failed in a struggle for education. A man with
a weak heart cannot climb a steep hill. In the feebleminded it is
the power of mental adaptation which is weak ; and they cannot
surmount the obstacles which the requirements of ordiucvry com-
munity life present. They do not have the clearness of percep-
tion, nor the mental vigor to grasp and handle even the ordinary
problems of human existence. They are at the mercy of events.
Normal minded people are at least partial masters of their fate.

This has all been well said by Miss Mary Dendy of Man-
chester, England. "To all of us birth happens and death
happens. Those of us who are sane knozu, whatever we may
think, that between birth and death we have the power, to a great
extent, of guiding our own lives ; we have the choice between
good and evil. To these less happy brethren of ours (the feebte-

minded) not only do birth and death happen, but everything that
comes between ; their lives are one long happening."

It is a deficiency of intelligence which makes their lives
"one long happening."

Can intelligence be measured f

Every person who is at all observant of human nature makes
estimates of intelligence. He classifies his friends, — and his
enemies, — into various groups : — stupid, clever, mediocre, etc.
The school teacher estimates her children in a similar manner;
and roughly separates them into two or three divisions : the^
bright, the average, the dull. There is, however, one great source
of error in estimating the intelligence of children. They are con-
stantly growing, and it is difficult to keep definite standards in
mind. A boy of twelve may be doing excellent work ir^ the fifth
grade ; the teacher calls him bright. Another boy of teh may be
doing only passable work in the same grade, and tl;ie teacher calls
him average or dull. As a matter of fact the ten year old boy
may really be brighter than the older boy, if we, take actual age
into account. Ability to do school work is a very I proper measure
of intelligence ; but the most important factor is the age of the
child. And we cannot make an adequate estimate of intelligence
until we take age into full consideration.

Can we do this with anything like accurate precision? The
great French psychologist, Alfred Binet, has shown us that we
can. After years of patient experimentation on his own chil-
dren, and on normal and deficient school children in Paris, he
devised a graded series of mental problems, or tests, which he
justly called a measuring scale of intelligence. No one pretends
that this scale has the accuracy of a clinical thermometer which
reads to a tenth of a degree, but it is a scale because it is made
up of standardized units. Judiciously applied, this scale or one
of its improved revisions, furnishes us a rating of intelligence.

For example it was found after numerous comparative try-
outs on children of various ages, that at different levels of mental
development children respond diflferently to a picture. A child
of three will ordinarily look at a picture, and simply enumerate
all the objects in it: "man; river; boat, etc." On the average,
say seven cases out of ten, a child of seven will describe the

picture: "The man is paddling. The boat is going down the
river/' At the age of twelve the average normal response is an
interpretation of the picture. "They are fleeing from danger,
etc." This is the principle of a graded intelligence scale. Five or
six tests for each age from three to twelve or sixteen, furnish
the basis of measurement. What is normal or characteristic of a
given age being known, we can determine roughly whether a
child tests above age, below age or at age ; and we can tell how
much he deviates. We express his "score" by mental age. He is
actually eight years old ; that is known as his chronological age.
He tests six years of age by the scale; that is his mental age.
This mental age gives us some idea of his retardation; but we
do not get a true conception of his intelligence calibre until we
compare mental age and chronological age. The ratio between
the two is the significant thing. This ratio is the intelligence
index. It is usually called the intelligence quotient (abbreviated,
I Q) ; because it is derived by dividing the mental age by the

M A (mental age)

chronological age. The formula isIQ=^.,, , ., .

^ C A (chronological age).

If the numerator and denominator are equal we get unity or
ioo%, or an I Q of loo. If the numerator is 2, and the de-
nominator 3, we get a value below 100, — I Q^^6y. If the num-
erator is 3 and the denominator 2, we get an I Q of 150; which
indicates a very superior intelligence. An I Q of 67 or less,
however, nearly always means feeblemindedness. If we use the
carefully standardized methods of The Stanford Revision of the
Binet Scale, we may, safely say that the following ratio between
mental age and chronological age denotes definite mental de-
ficiency: — 2:3; 4:6; 6:9; 8:12; 10:15.

What are the different degrees of intelligence f

For convenience we may say that there are three grades or
degrees of intelligence to be found among school children :
average, superior, inferior; normal, supernormal and subnormal.
By normal intelligence we mean that ordinary amount of intelli-
gence which most children have and which insures their ability
to meet the ordinary demands of life. Such children are neither
much retarded nor advanced in their schooling. They are neither
far below or above par. In terms of I Q (intelligence quotient)

they rank, according to the Stanford-Bmet ratings from 90 to
no. Children with an I Q above no may be regarded as more
or less superior. Children rating from 90 to 80 are usually dull.
From 70 to 80 is the region of "borderline deficiency.'' Some-
times these children are classifiable as dullards, sometimes as
mentally deficient (feebleminded). Below 70 points to definite
feeblemindedness. While the line must not be drawn too sharp
or too straight, we may regard this as the upper level of sub-
normal intelligence.

Mental deficiency or subnormal intelligence differs in grades
of severity. Three main grades are recognized : low, medium and
high grade ; idiot, imbecile and moron. The I Q for these classes
would range between 50 and 70 for moronity; between 20 or 25
and 50 for imbecility; and below 20 or 25 for idiocy. (Terman)

The idiot stands at the bottom of the scale. He is often
utterly helpless, and he very rarely enters a public school, be-
cause his mental age is less than three years. The Mental De-
ficiency Law of England defines idiots as "persons so deeply de-
fective in mind from birth, or from an early age, as to be unable
to guard themselves against common physical dangers."

The imbecile stands somewhat higher in the intelligence
scale. His mental level is between three and seven years. Im-
becile children sometimes find their way into public schools. The
Mental Deficiency Law defines imbeciles as "persons in whose
case there exists from birth or from an early age mental defec-
tiveness not amounting to idiocy, yet so pronounced that they are
incapable of managing themselves or their affairs, or, in the case
of children, of being taught to do so."

The most important and most numerous group is the moron.
He stands near the borderline of normality. He often looks
normal and so we allow him to drift into situations which he
cannot meet. It is the moron who makes so many problems for
the schools and for society. The moron mentality ranges in
terms of intelligence age, from seven to eleven years. The Eng-
lish legal definition of the moron is as follows : "Persons in
whose case there exists from birth or from an early age mehtaj^
defectiveness not amounting to imbecility, yet so pronounced that
they require care, supervision, and control for their own protec-
tion, or for the protection of others, or, in the case of children,

that they, by reason of such defectiveness, appear to be perma-
nently incapable of receiving proper benefit from the instruction
in ordinary schools."

How many children arc mentally deficient?

Our answer depends, of course, upon the standards which
we use and how accurately we apply them. Terman has found
that among looo unselected school children, i% have an I Q of
70 or less. By this standard it is safe to say that for a large
number of cases, 1% of the elementary school enrollment is
definitely deficient. Since however m^ny children with an I Q
of over 70 are deficient when judged by their social and indus-
trial capabilities, we may possibly be justified in considering the
proportion as high as 2%. One per cent is at present the least
disputed figure.

So far as the teacher is concerned this statistical question
has no practical importance. The figures hold only for a large
number of cases, and the distribution of cases in any school
building or school district will be uneven. For example one rural
school may not have a single mentally deficient pupil, another
may have two or three. There are similar variations in graded
school systems. One building with 500 pupils may have only
four deficient pupils, another of the same size or even smaller
may have eight. The third and fourth grades are likely to have
more than the sixth and seventh, except when the deficient chil-
dren are promoted by courtesy.

What is the difference betzveen a dullard and a deficient child?

It may not be altogether scientific to make a rigid distinc-
tion between the two. It has been maintained that grades of in-
telligence fade into each other like day, dusk, dark and dawn;
and that it is arbitrary to draw sharp lines between the grades.
For practical reasons, however, we insist that a clear cut distinc-
tion should be made between the dullard and the deficient child.
And the distinction should be made in favor of the dullard. A
dullard is not a very high grade moron ; he is not a super-moron.
He is to be regarded as a definitely normal individual, whose
faculties are simply below the average in quantity but closely
akin to the average in quality. He is organized along normal

lines. He may be slow witted; but he is not weak witted. He
has considerable mental stamina and stability. When we psycho-
logically describe him as a low grade normal, we do it in no
derogatory sense. He may be backward in school; he may be
rather obtuse in abstract, academic subjects; but in his natural
sphere he succeeds. He makes his way in the world ; because he
has enough mother wit to do so. This is more than we can say
of the moron; for as Tregold has pointed out, even the highest
grade moron is lacking in "that essential to independent exist-
ence, common sense."

A deficient child is so defectively organized that he does not
promise even the modest success in life which the dullard attains.
The dullard profits much more from experience, and responds
much more to proper education.

What is the chief characteristic of the mentally deficient

adult?

The best, brief answer to this question is summed up in
Dr. Tregold's definition of feeblemindedness. In his words,
feeblemindedness is "a state of restricted potentiality for, or ar-
rest of, cerebral development, in consequence of which the per-
son affected is incapable at maturity of so adapting himself to
his environment or to the requirements of the community as to
maintain existence independently of external support."

This definition is well wo.rth mastering. We recommend that
the teacher memorize it, analyze it and interpret it. Notice that
the test or criterion of mental deficiency is a social one. A
feebleminded person cannot become an efficient, responsible
member of society. He cannot become an independent wage
earner or a self controlling citizen. A feebleminded man ought
never to be allowed to try to found a home and rear a family ;
a feebleminded woman cannot properly manage a home and for
this reason alone, if for no other, she ought not to become a
mother of children. She does not possess the mental ability to
properly bring up children ; and if she did, the children often
would not have the mentality to properly respond to training.

The feebleminded are therefore at once mentally deficient
and socially deficient. They cannot function as normal members
of society because of subnormal mental endowment. It is not

perversity, viciousness, or laziness which makes them fail. It is
a degree or a kind of mental incompetence. It is defective in-
telligence.

What are the social consequences of feeblemindednessf

When feeblemindedness is uncontrolled by society all sorts
of vocational, economic and moral problems arise. Many of our
social problems are caused by the vocational inefficiency of the
feebleminded. Vocational inefficiency shows itself in so-called
shiftlessness, unemployment, irregular employment, begging,
vagrancy, pauperism. This does not of course mean to say that
every pauper is feebleminded. That would be a libel. But it does
mean that feeblemindedness is an important cause of pauperism
and indigence. A large portion of those who drift into alms-
houses, particularly those who are not of advanced age, have
failed in the struggle for economic existence because of the
feebleness of their wits. They did not have the mental tenacity
and good judgment to succeed from day to day, month to month,
and year to ^ear. For the same reason the feebleminded earn
subnormal wages at piece work; or are "handed around" from
job to job without holding any position for a great length of
time Some become vagrants, ne'er-do-wells; many are wastrels;
to use an English term. "Good-for-nothing'' we often call them.
As a matter of fact they are good-for-something; but only if we
put them into suitable surroundings where their weak intelli-
gence will not be overtaxed.

The foregoing failures we call economic failures. If the
same individual fails along legal lines we call it crime, de-
linquency or vice. Economic failure and moral failure are psy-
chologically akin. They both may be an expression of mental
weakness. It takes a reasonable amount of intelligence to recog-
nize right and wrong, to keep definitely in mind the consequences
of wrong, and to shape conduct in accordance with the ad-
vantages of right. For this reason it has been said by high
authority that every feebleminded person is a potential criminal.
As a matter of fact a remarkably large number of feebleminded
persons manage to keep out of jail; but a remarkably large pro-
portion of those who do not, and who serve long sentences in
reformatories and prisons are mentally deficient. Easily one out

T»

ai five of the inmates of penetentiaries is feebleminded. Like-
wise many of the boys and girls who are committed to reform
schools, particularly among those cases who do cannot be perma-
nently reformed are definitely deficient. When the impossibility
of reform is due to mental deficiency, we call the individual a
defective delinquent. A fraction of the incorrigible or disciplin-
ary cases among school children are defective delinquents.

Lack of intelligence may be at the basis of other forms of
subnormal control, such as alcoholism and sexual immorality.
Not all, but, agfain, a considerable percentage of inebriates and
of prostitutes are feebleminded.

Is it any wonder that we have so many social problems
directly due to mental deficiency? We can only rejoice in the
good fortune of those cases where Jt happy combination of favor-
able circumstances allows the feebleminded person to live a par-
tially useful or at least a harmless life. We wish it were possible
to always provide the external support w^hich their mental fraility
needs. Perhaps we some day shall be able to do so, if we begin
near the bottom and cope with the problem as we find it in our
public schools.

How does mental deficiency shozv itself in the school child?

Naturally, the failures of the neglected feebleminded adult
are foreshadowed in the school life of his childhood. The fail-
ures in school may not be so glaring because we do not expect
too much of the immature and because we naturally protect chil-
dren. Sometimes it even happens that the optimistic school
teacher does not recognize the existence of feeblemindedness in
a pupil; particularly if the pupil is a docile and agreeable child.
But if the teacher has a proper appreciation of the fundamental
importance of intelligence, she is likely to see the signs of defect
in the school behavior of a deficient child.

What are these signs? Let us enumerate them, cautioning
the teacher to use good judgment in interpreting them.

In the first place a deficient child does not play in a normal
manner. He never is a leader on the playground ; and often he
is not even a follower. He prefers to sit by idly, content to watch
others play; and this, not because he is physically weak, but be-

cause he is mentally inert. He does not have ordinary, healthy
play interests; he is listless; and if he attempts to play a game
beyond his mental and moral powers he gets into difficulties ; he
is not likely to be a popular playmate. There are some children
of high grade mental defect who manage to play pretty success-
fully; but even they are usually fond of the simplest games
only, and they tend to play with companions below their own
age.

In work as well as in play the signs of deficiency show
themselves. If the child is of very low grade intelligence, say
that of an imbecile, he will not be able to acquire the 3 R's at all.
His writing will then be mostly scribbles; he will probably be
unable to draw a copy of a diamond ; he might after much train-
ing, learn to recognize a few words, and do a few simple sums.
But when we recall that it is possible to teach almost as much to
an "educated horse," it does not follow that he can really read,
or that he has any comprehension of numbers, beyond a few,
concrete situations.

What can a moron do in ordinary school zvorkf

While an imbecile is almost entirely incompetent in the
ordinary school room, a high grade moron may accomplish a
good deal with the 3 R's. But it will be hard for him to learn.
By the time he gets to his teens he is usually three years or more
behind his grade ; and what he does learn he often fails to under-
stand. In rare cases he may have learned to perform long
division, but usually his comprehension of arithmetic is far below
that.- He always has great difficulty with fractions and with
problems requiring reasoning. There is a concrete kind of arith-
metic, however, in which he feels more at home; and this kind
only has any value for him.

A high grade moron may learn to write a simple letter. His
powers of composition, however, are usually below even that;
and he is deficient in matters of punctuation ; sentence structure
and of course in grammar. His penmanship is likely to be far
superor to his language power. This is because penmanship is
merely a motor habit, while written language makes demands
upon a higher kind of intelligence. A moron may learn to read ;
but he acquires the art with difficulty. His reading is always

likely to be monotonous, and rather slow. While a normal child
usually learns to read with some expression and understanding
the feebleminded child tends merely to call off the separate
words, and is deficient in reproducing the thought of a selection.
A moderate ability to read in a child of twelve years or over
must not, however, be taken as a proof that the child is not men-
tally deficient. If he is seriously retarded in all his school work
and shows poor judgment and general lack of common sense ; he
may still be feebleminded.

We must never forget that academic attainments may be
largely mechanical, and simply due to years of drill, drill, drill.
For example, I recall a deficient girl about eleven years cfld, a
third grade pupil, who could glibly recite the "five table." The
patient teacher had drilled so hard on that table, th^t the child
reproduced it perfectly. But it muSt have been a phonographic
kind of reproduction, because when I asked the child, "Which
is more : five or two ?'' — she coulH not answer !

In history, a mentally deficient pupil ordinarily makes Wry
little progress. He may learn a few simple facts, in a somewhat
parrot fashion, about George Washington, Columbus and Abra-
ham Lincoln; but he often gets his historical characters sadly
mixed. He may say that Columbus was the firsf^resident, and if
you ask him who Hved first, Columbus, Lincoln or Washingtonv
you cannot be at all certain that you will get a correct answer.
Though a mentally deficient child may learn simple stories about
historical men and events, he has a very meagre historical sense.
The teaching of history to the feebleminded is mainly a waste of
time, and often an absurd waste.

The same is true of geography. A few barren geographical
facts the feebleminded pupil can memorize. He may even learn
to recite after a fashion in a map study lesson. He may point out
South America, but ask him which is larger, Connecticut, New
Haven, or America, and you may get a wrong reply. He does
not grasp relations which are abstract. He often fails to grasp
concrete relations, when these are beyond the range of his own
immediate experience.

What does the deficient school child need most of all?

Most of all, he needs to be understood. When teachers,
parents, and elder schoolmates begin to understand him, the
chances are that he will be made more happy and more useful.
At least, the teacher who is with him every day can make a
determined effort to understand him. She can observe his be-
havior and note his limitations, and get some conception of his
mentality. Of what value is all our psycholog)-, if we cannot
use it in order to interpret a feebleminded child ? Let the teacher
once really appreciate the nature of such a child and she will
soon find some devices by which he can best be treated. The
teacher can do much to make the lot of the deficient child a more
comfortable one. She can treat him with such consideration that
the whole schoolroom will respond to the suggestion. If the child
is a butt of teasing and other forms of mental cruelty, the teacher
is the one to change all this for the better. We must all begin to
look upon the feebleminded more as we look upon the crippled

and physically infirm. A crippled child is the object of peculiar
concern and consideration. We do not expect too much of the
cripple. Least of all do we regard his weakness as in any way a
disgrace. Yet, when it comes to the feebleminded we often
wrongly attach a stigma to their condition. The rural teacher,
the village teacher, and in city schools, the principals, can do a
great deal toward removing this stigma. No teacher or principal
should tolerate in the vicinity of the school grounds the calling
of names and the tormenting which are still too commonly the
lot of the deficient child. By indirect suggestions, and sometimes
by a little plain talking, the teacher can make the attitude of the
normal children one of wholesome sympathy and appreciation
for the subnormal member of the group. If these normal children
need a little sermon on the subject, why not recall to them the
kind instincts which they ordinarily display toward the crippled,
the paralytic and the blind; and make them realize that the
feebleminded are in need of the same kindness?

The solution of the problem of feeblemindedness depends to
a large extent upon general mutual understanding. It might al-
most be said that if everybody concerned, really understood the
feebleminded members of their community, it would be possible

for a great many of these members to lead a fairly satisfactory
life outside of an institution.

The place to begin this policy of mutual understanding is
right in the schoolroom. Begin it, by not expecting anything of
the feebleminded child which he is not equal to. Make allow-
ances for him. If necessary, make a special program for him.
If necessary, give him a special table and a little work bench in
the corner of the room ; and instead of fearing the consequence?
which such special attention will have upon "the discipline*' of
the room and upon the regular pupils, enlist the interest and co-
operation of these pupils in solving the problem. The problem
is this : How can we keep a feebleminded child in an ordinary
school room, and yet serve his best interests? He is bound to
get more than his share of attenticTn in any case. Make the atten-
tion intelligent; and if the routine is somewhat disturbed the
educational benefit for the whole group may be all the greater.

In the lower grade cases, where the child is conspicuously
below the mental level of his schoolmates, the problem will be
greatly simplified by delegating much of the special work to
bright monitor pupils. These pupils will take a pride in helping
the teacher and the child. Make it a family. problem; encourage
cooperation and the subnormal pupil instead of being a drag
upon the room may furnish a real stimulus to the social educa-
tion of the whole group. Let us so change the situation that the
deficient child will become an educational asset. This will be for
his own benefit and for ours.

Who should make the diagnosis of feehlemindednessf

The teacher should never make an official diagnosis. That
is the business of a qualified examiner. Should the teacher,
then, regard every child as normal until she is notified to the
contrary? That would be too much to expect. Every intelligent
teacher is bound to make some kind of judgment in regard tb.Tier
pupils, and sometimes this judgment must amount to a convic-
tion that a child is definitely feebleminded. Whei) a tase is doubt-
ful it is her duty to suspend her judgment ; but when she has
ample evidence of real deficiency, such as is described in this
booklet, it is her duty to shape her policy with respect to the
child in accordance with that evidence. In consulting with in-

telligent parents of the child, she may then, go so far as to say
something like this : "In my opinion the child is seriously back-
ward, he will never accomplish what the average pupil accom-
plishes, and he should have special attention during his school,
life and after he leaves school." This is going far enough; she
should not undertake to make a formal diagnosis, and she is not
called upon to use the term feeblemindedness. The most con-
venient term to use, if any be necessary, is "deficient/' This is
sufficiently accurate, but it is not a harsh designation, because
teachers often use a similar expression with normal children
who are reported "deficient in arithmetic," "deficient in reading,"
etc. We recommend then, that instead of using such unreserved
terms as feebleminded, abnormal, degenerate or imbecile, teach-
ers will simply say "a deficient child" or "a seriously backward
child."

Can teachers be of any assistance to parents of a deficient child?

They can when the parents do not appreciate their problem.
When the child has been definitely diagnosed as mentally de-
ficient, or when the evidence points decisively to mental de-
ficiency, the teacher and supervisor can be of real assistance to
the parents by making suggestions concerning the treatment of
the deficient child at home. Parents should realize that this
home-training is often very important. So far as possible, the
child should learn in his home the fundamental personal habits
that have to do with his cleanliness, neatness, and every day de-
portment. Does he know how to wash himself? Does he comb
his own hair? Can he tie his shoestrings? Does he know how
and when to use his handkerchief? Some of the simplest things
are often neglected. Families fall into the habit of helping the
deficient child too much. By patient drill he must be taught
those personal habits which will make him less burdensome
and more attractive to others. Above all the child should be
taught how to work with his hands, he should learn to assist in
the labor of the home, the farm, the shop. So far as practical,
he should have definite chores. A deficient child can often be
trained into a considerable degree of usefulness. The one thing
that can not be taught him is good judgment; and it is for this
reason the parents must never expect too much of him.

Tact is always necessary in discussing such questions, but
when the teacher is sure of her ground, a positive use of tact is
surely much better than a policy of silence or neglect. As a
matter of justice to the child, everything should be done to pro-
tect his future.

How should parents be advised in regard to that future? So
much depends upon each individual case, that we will give only
a few general suggestions.

1. If the child is an excessive burden and a real menace,
steps should be taken to have him committed to an institution.
You may write to the office of the state board of education or to
your supervisor for advice in regard to such steps.

2. If the child is apparently "harmless" and can do a little
work, the parents must be made to realize that the child will
probably always lack the judgment to take entire care of himself,
and that he should always be kept near friends and relatives who
will guard him against pitfalls and dangers. A defective young
man must not be permitted to try to make his way in the world.
A defective young woman should be guarded against every dan-
ger. Neither, of course, should marry.

3. The only hope of keeping a feebleminded person safe
and happy outside of a colony or institution is to find the right
kind of work for that person. Let the occupation be simple and
let the worker be protected from dangers, and the problem is
often solved.

But if the parents are blind to the situation, and persist in
hoping that the child will yet grow up and become independent,
they are doomed to much worry and disappointment. A mentally
deficient child lacks the capacity for normal independence and
self-control. Under favorable, supervised conditions, he may
when he is grown make his living, but he always needs some
external support, some guidance. When a teacher can sym-
pathetically help a parent to see the problem in its true light, she
will be rendering a service not only to the child and to the family,
but also to the state of which she is a public servant.

PART II

A mental classification of children and illustrative
case studies of deficient pupils

Types of deficient school children

For the convenience of the reader we insert a tabular
psychological classification of children, which furnishes a bird's-
eye summary of some of the main facts. As a simple standard
of reference for the teacher, we also add a few case studies of
school children illustrating different types of mentality. Three
girls, Harriet, Sarah, Helen, representing respectively low grade
deficiency, dullness, and mental superiority are briefly described,
and specimens of their writing and drawing are shown.

Following this, is a comparative description of three
brothers, who are in the same public school, who are of exactly
the same Binet age, who have substantially the same school at-
tainments, but who represent because of their differences in
chronological age, three descending degrees of mental de-
ficiency. These boys, of course, belong to the hereditary type
of mental deficiency.

A few samples of their school work and mental output are
shown in the illustrations. Each boy was able to write without
assistance a sentence stating his approximate age. Below this
sentence is reproduced a "letter" telling "What I did on last
Saturday." The drawings portray a house, a man and tree. The
circle represents the results of the Ball and Field Test, an inter-
esting intelligence test, which is embodied in the Stanford Re-
vision of the Binet measuring scale. Briefly, we said to each
child, "Let us suppose that your ball has been lost in this round
field. You have no idea what part of the field it is in ; but you
know it is there somewhere. Now take this pencil and begin at
the gate, and mark out a path to show me how you would hunt
for the ball, so as to be sure not to miss it." This test demands
a little practical judgment on the part of the child. We consider
that a child fails, if he cannot comprehend the instructions. Such
was the case with Harriet. The three brothers grasped the in-
structions but failed to show any definite plan in carrying out the
search for the ball. At the mental level of eight years we expect
evidence of at least a little foresight, an inferior plan of search.
Sarah, the dull girl, made a path around the margin of the field,
an inferior plan; while a normal or superior girl of twelve like
Helen, meets the logical requirements of the problem, with a su-
perior plan of search, which covers the whole field with a spiral
or fan shaped path.

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TiFREB Grades of Mentautv
are by Harriet, age ii. IQ4,,. .Me„tal)y DeBcient

The letter to Uncle Willia;

by Sarah, age 14, IQ75. Dull. (Grade VI)

a By Helen, age la. IQ137, Superior. (Grade Villi

By the younger brother, Mental Age ?.

By the middle brother, Menial Age 7.

By the older brother, Mental Age 7.

By Simon. Age ll, Mental Age 6, IQ54.
A. See the Utile boy, written from dictation. B. Spelling of dog and horse. C, Copy
a s<[uare. D. Copy of a diamond. R. Example in multiplication. F. ''History Facts,'
itlen without copy or help.

Harriet, /. 0. 43

Here is a girl whom we first examined four years ago. She
was then seven years old, and although she had been in the kin-
dergarten for two years, she was not ready for promotion into
the first grade. And the sad fact of the matter is, she never will
be ready. She is now eleven years old but cannot be taught the
first rudiments of reading and writing and number. At the age
of seven she could not count four pennies ; she can do so now
in a rather mechanical manner, but she has no clear concept of
even the number four. As for writing, she is still in the scribble
stage. In 1914 she made the scrawl shown in figure to represent a
dolly. In 1918 she is unable to draw a steady straight line, and
cannot make a cross mark even when shown a model.

All of this tends to prove that her mental development has
been practically at a standstill ; and that six years of public
school life have had little eitect upon her intelligence. This is
very neatly corroborated by the records of our two mental exam-
inations. In 1914 her mental age was exactly 3 years ; in 1918 it
was exactly four years by the same tests. It has taken her four
years to make one year of normal intelligence progress as meas-
ured by these tests. Evidently she has not "outgrown" her de-
ficiency as her mother hoped she would. Nor has she de-
teriorated. She has just about held her own; for her I. Q. (in-
telligence quotient) in 1914 was 43 and now it is 37, a very close
correspondence.

What can Harriet do which she could not do four years
ago? She can give an acceptable definition of a chair and a
table ; she can tell you what one must do when cold or hungry ;
she can match a few simple geometrical forms; she can tell us
whether she is a girl or a boy. But she cannot yet give us the
names of colors, or of familiar coins, nor distinguish between
right and left. Why does she seem so much more deficient than
she did when she was in the kindergarten? Simply because she
is older. While she was a mere child many allowances were
made for her; now more is expected; but relatively (as shown
by the I. Q.) she was about as defective in 1914 as in 1918.

This case is, therefore, instructive because it shows how im-
portant is the ratio between mental age and chronological age.
We can never make a satisfactory estimate of a child's intelli-

gence calibre unless both standards are taken into account.
Harriet's case also illustrates the fact that even children of im-
becile grade are able to go to school, and that they can be main-
tained there if we make proper provision for them. Many, how-
ever, would consider her an institutional case because she is even
at best a very difficult child to manage, and does not get proper
chaperonage to and from school. Most deficient school children
are morons, similar to the type described further on ; and a great
deal can be done for them in the public school, even outside of a
special class.

Sarah, /. 0. 75

Sarah is physically a well developed girl ; she makes a fairly
pleasing impression, though she is somewhat slow and awkward
in her movements, and has a reputation of being rather slovenly.
She is fourteen years old and it is evident from her school work
that she is not very bright. She is in the sixth grade and is there-
fore retarded about two years. The intelligence tests show even
more retardation, for she earns a score of little over ten years.
She is slow in her responses and never brilliant; however she
makes no absurd replies, and shows a mild sense of humor,
which speaks well for her. We know nothing in her history
which proves serious lack of good judgment. Though her school
work is only passable, it is evidently more than the product of
mechanical drill. The total impression is that Sarah is simply a
slow, dull girl. In spite of her marked retardation, we would not
consider her deficient. She has definite limitations, and should
not be considered a candidate for higher, academic education. It
is her modest ambition to become a seamstress ; and in all prob-
ability she will succeed, independent of external support. We
anticipate that she will be able to shift for herself, and show
ordinary prudence and good judgment. Therefore, we classify
this girl on the normal side of the borderline, — dull, but not
deficient.

Helen, I. Q. 137

Helen makes no doubtful or borderline impression. Intelli-
gence shines in her features ; as it shines in her school record and
in her resfK)nses to the psychological test. She mentally outranks
all her schoolmates many of whom are a few years older. She

has an intelligence quotient almost thrice that of Harriet, and
almost twice that of Sarah. Helen is only twelve years old ;
but she is in the eighth grade, and her mental age is about i6.
Even so, she may be somewhat retarded, pedagogically ; for she
has been mentally ready for high school work for a year or more.
Her language reflects her mental maturity. She has a vocabulary
of over 10,000 words, almost that of an average adult; and this
is particularly interesting because she has had a very unfavor-
able homelife. Her homelife has been so adverse tha if she were
dull (like Sarah) we might have been tempted to explain her
dullness by these home conditions. This w^ould have been poor
logic, for intelligence calibre is primarily a matter of inheritance.

Helen freely uses such words as "depose" and "com-
passion." Asked to state the difference betwen character and
reputation, she instantaneously replied with Napoleonic pre-
cision and succinctness. Once hearing seven digits pronounced
at the rate of one per second, she can repeat them backwards. In
live seconds she solved an arithmetic problem which fourteen
year children often take a minute to work out.

So far as intellect is concerned, this girl will surely be able
to meet the ordinary demands of life, without external support.
She is not only normal ; she is superior, and as a matter of
justice and conservation she deserves superior educational ad-
vantages.

Three brothers, mental age 7

We discuss these three children together, because mentally
there happens to be a remarkable similarity between them. This
similarity emphasizes certain important differences. Almost to a
detail, they pass and fail the same tests in the measuring scale
of intelligence ; and their responses are much alike in quality.
This is suggested by the samples of school work shown in the
illustration. It is also shown in the estimates which the teachers
made of their school ability. In reading, writing, arithmetic and
spelling they were rated at second or in most cases third grade
ability. Have they all become permanently arrested just below
the level represented by fourth grade school work?

Let us see. Andrew is ten years old. He is doing passable
third grade work in all his subjects. This is not a serious re-

tardation; but by the intelligence tests, he is at the seven year
level, and his intelligence quotient is only 71. This is not very
reassuring; particularly under all the circumstances. He does
not show normal grasp of his school work ; and his teacher sus-
pects that he is going to have great difficulty in the fourth grade.
If he becomes stranded there, we shall be forced to conclude that
he is probably deficient; though at present he is both absolutely
and relatively the brighest of the three boys. We believe that he
is near the limits of his mental development, that the next five
years will accentuate his deficiency, and that he will not rise to
the eleven or twelve year mental level. We think, however, that
at his present age he should be given every advantage in his
school work ; but vocational and hand work are already indicated
in his case.

Elmer and Amos are decidedly inferior to Andrew, and un-
questionably deficient. By mental age these three brothers are
identical, but not by intelligence quotient. Andrew^ with an I. Q.
of 71 is near the borderline and at least a high grade moron :
Elmer being twelve years old has an I. Q. of 64 and is much
more subnormal ; Amos being over thirteen years old has an I.
Q. of 54, and is a low grade moron. Elmer and Amos can never
do satisfactory fourth grade work, if they remain in school all
their lives. Much drilling has given them a little facility in add-
ing and multiplying and in reading. In some processes they are
even superior to their brighter brother, Andrew; but that is due
simply to mechanical drill and repetition; and not to real su-
periority. Much of their present school ability is absolutely use-
less, and it probably has had no strengthening effect on their
minds. Their information is wofuUy meagre. They do not know
where leather comes from or why we celebrate the fourth of
July. Asked who Abraham Lincoln was ; they both paused a
long time in apparent reflection. Finally Elmer said, "He was a
man." Amos said he knew that, and added, "He was a poor boy
who got rich."

The children had gone to school for years. Do not their
replies show the futility of teaching them academic abstractions ?
What they and the legion they represent, need is training along
concrete, practical, and vocational lines.

Sijuoji, I. O. 54

On looking at the drawings and the written school work
of Simon, age eleven, one can hardly believe that this boy is
really only a little more than a high grade imbecile. His mental
age is six, and on the intelligence scale his rank is that of a kw
grade moron. He is an instructive case for the teacher who is
inclined to place too much importance upon mechanical drill
and written work. Here we have a boy who can not tie his
shoe strings, but who can wTite out a long list of history facts
without making scarcely a mistake. Here is a boy who can
not discriminate between left and right, who can not tell time,
who would sooner have a nickel than a dime, who thinks that
leather grows on trees, — yet he can write without any copy
historical statements about Columbus, ^Magellan, the Pilgrims
and Amerigo Vespucci. How can we explain this amazing
situation ?

One word holds the key to the explanation, and that word
is memory. Memory as, Binet reminded us, is the great simu-
lator of intelligence ; but it is never a complete equivalent or
even a trustworthy symptom of intelligence. Practice so thor-
oughly familiarized Simon with the written history facts that
after a while the teacher could take the chart away and still the
boy was able to wTite out the sentences. Put a hungry white
rat into a complicated maze and after repeated trials it will
learn the correct path and easily find its way out. The creature
memorizes the maze ; but it is a mechanical, motor kind of
memory. In a similar way Simon acquired the motor associa-
tions which result in his surprising ability to set down historical
facts.

That there was no true perception of these facts was
prettily demonstrated by a conversation I had with him, some-
what as follows : "Who was Christopher Columbus ?*' I asked.
There was no reply. The question proved to be too abstract.
"What did Christopher do?" Still no answer. Finally I put it
this way: "Who discovered America?" and received the re-
sponse, "Christopher Columbus." I very much doubt, however,
that Simon even knows that Christopher Columbus was a man.
It is easy enough to say that he ought to know; but it is better

to possess one's i^atience because all that we are sure that he
does know is the motor trick of writing out the " history facts."

One of Simon's teachers lost her patience because of his
persistent refusal to recite. He was inveterately silent; and be-
cause he was sometimes heard to talk on the playground, it be-
gan to look to the teacher as though the boy was simply ob-
stinate in his silence at lessons. She summoned his father to
school, one day, and Simon was rather severely disciplined for
his refusal to recite. What a comic tragedy it must have been
when poor Simon was scolded, upraided and finally beaten, be-
cause he would not recite ! Like reproving a blind man be-
cause he will not see ! Although there is some timidity in this
boy he is very good hearted, and his silence was chiefly due to
a consistent lack of ideas and of comprehension.

This story contains a good deal of psychology, both ap-
plied and mis-applied. It warns us to be conservative in labelling
any pupil stubborn, lazy, wilful. Alany a deficient child has
been unjustly described by such adjectives. Sometimes, to be
sure, the feebleminded are temporarily obstinate, but even then,
it is often an instinctive resistance against an educational treat-
ment for which they are not fitted. In such cases their obstinacy
is a self protective reaction against the wrong thing and a re-
minder of the fact that we ought to modify our program and
our pedagogical tactics. In general we may say, the special child
needs a special program.

PART III

Practical suggestions

for

A special program for the deficient child

Practical suggestions for a special program for the deficient child

If it is impossible for the teacher to put her deficient pupil
into a special class, let her make the best of the situation and de-
vise for him a special program. Under favorable conditions this
special program may be almost as beneficial for him as a special
classroom. The teacher can afford to give him at least some in-
dividual attention ; and as already suggested let her enlist the aid
of the brighter pupils, or even older . schoolmates in the upper
grades. Naturally the deficient pupil will be permitted to share
in the regular school work, whenever he is at all fitted to do so ;
but during certain periods of the day he should be occupied along
special lines particularly suited to him. Gradually the teacher
should develop for him a special program or schedule of ac-
tivities which will keep him busy and contented during the school
day. Concrete suggestions for the making out of such a schedule
will now be given. These suggestions must of course be adapted
to each individual case ; and it is hoped that the teacher will sup-
plement them with ideas altogether her own.

The three R's

We will begin with the 3 R's ; but not because they are the
most important. They are not. It might even be said that a
feebleminded child is one who cannot be taught the 3 R's with
any marked advantage to himself or to society. It has been sug-
gested that the 3 R's constitute the fads and frills in the educa-
tion of the mentally deficient. This is not altogether true. Some
high grade children learn to write a simple letter, and sometimes
they put this ability to good use. Some learn to read the news-
papers sufficiently to look up Help Wanted ads when they are
out of a job ; and they have occasion to make use of some of their
arithmetic in handling their simple financial affairs. But after
making a few allowances like this, there is little to be said for the
practical importance of "the fundamentals" ; for the simple rea-
son that they are not fundamental in the training of the mentally
deficient. They are secondary "cultural" subjects.

However, they are convenient subjects to teach ; they furnish
occupation and often no little enjoyment to the children. If a
child will learn to take plesaure even in the simplest reading,

that is enough to justify the teaching. Furthermore even a slight
ability in reading and writing serves to make the child seem more
like other children; and when he is a high grade deficient, he
should be given an opportunity to show how much he can master.
For all these reasons the 3 R's may find a place on the special
program of the deficient child; but the teacher should not go to
undue lengths in teaching these academic subjects.

When a child can do no more than scribble, when he can-
not even make a good kindergarten drawing of a house, do not
go to extremes to teach him penmanship. And if a child is so
deficient that he ordinarily talks only in phrases and short sen-
tences; and if, after months in the schoolroom he is unable to
recognize a few primer words, do not worry about your failure
to teach him to read. He probably needs other kinds of instruc-
tion much more. I have known conscientious teachers to blame
themselves unjustly for failures which were due to the sheer in-
capacity of the pupil.

In arithmetic, when it can be taught at all, there is a happy
mean. Abstract number relations are beyond the feebleminded;
and many of the processes which you can teach by dint of drill
will be pure acquisitions of memory, and will never be applied.
But there are concrete relations which are worth teaching, by
means of yard stick, foot rule, quart and pint measure, cloth,
paper, sand, water, coins, etc. Ideas of near and far, short and
long, longer, shorter, one half, one quarter, inch, foot, ten cents,
twenty-five cents, pound, diameter, circumference, etc., etc., can
be taught by the well known methods of concrete arithmetic. It
is well to keep most of the work on this concrete level. Be con-
tent with a few fundamentals of every day importance like the
values of coins, making change, estimating and measuring di-
mensions, the length of a foot, one half, one third, one fourth,
the use of a ruler, telling time, writing numbers, and simple
problems.

Drazving

This is an excellent form of busy work for a deficient child.
Give him abundant paper eight by ten inches 'or larger in size ;
give him a supply of colored crayons and let him draw by the
hour, a half hour if he is interested. Wrapping paper may be
economically used. Magazine advertisements to color offer

abundant material. This kind of work at least helps to keep the
child occupied and interested. It has educational values beside.
Any form of drawing or water color work, tracing, copying, etc.,
may be used. Some children like to use a ruler and a compass,
and stiff pieces of cardboard cut into various shapes ; with these
they construct geometric designs w^hich they fill in with color.
Drawing has this advantage, that all grades of children can en-
gage in it to some extent.

Busy-work

For a lower grade child who has difficulty in doing any
ordinary school work whatever, the teacher must provide vari-
ous forms of *'busy work." It is better that such a child put
pegs in a peg board and pull them out and put them in again and
again, than that he should sit idle or disturb other- children.
Have him paste, cut, sort, prick, match, fold, — anything to keep
him occupied. Busy work is often educative, it is always better
than neglect or a futile effort to make the child join in regular
class work. The teacher will have to make the plans and take
the initiative in starting this work, but once it is started a monitor
pupil, chosen from the brighter, older children, can easily keep
it going and can add to it. Make it a point to get these bright
children to make suggestions and to assist in every way possible.
Following are some concrete suggestions as to available kinds of
busy work. There are many others which the teacher herself
should invent.

1. Stringing beads. Beads may be supplied or made.
Straws, circles, acorns, rose hips, peas are available.

2. Making paper chains. Various sizes, colors, and ar-
rangements.

3. Sorting colors (worsted, paper, cloth, etc).

4. Sorting sizes (cards, sticks).

5. Outlining simple drawings, and designs with lentils
squash or melon seeds. The drawings are placed flat on the desk
and the child overlays the outlines.

6. Sorting lengths (strings, etc., of various lengths).

7. Weaving with oilcloth or linen mats and colored splints,
and with paper mats.

8. Sewing cards of simple design.

9. Covering picture frames (of cardboard) with worsted
or raffia (buttonhole stitch).

10. Paper cutting — Have the child cut out designs from
wall paper, advertisements from magazines, and human figures
from fashion books.

11. Tracing and coloring from large patterns.

12. Pasting colored forms in border designs.

13. Sewing large buttons on bright material, with colored
thread.

14. Spool knitting.

15. Modelling with clay, sand, plasticene.

16. Making scrapbooks. Pasting pictures into large and
small scrapbooks is an excellent form of past time work.

17. All forms of paper work. Free cutting, cutting to out-
line, paper mat weaving, paper flowers, paper dolls, transparen-
cies, silhouettes, holiday tokens, paper tearing, paper folding, etc.
(see Reference No. 8 in Book list).

Handicraft and vocational work

Here is the teacher's greatest opportunity. It may seem
rather hopeless to undertake vocational work for the particular
benefit of one or two children, in a room with screwed down
seats, and in a day largely devoted to the task of teaching the
academic subjects. But the situation is not as hopeless as it
looks. There is a way when there is a will. In the first place
there are many forms of vocational activity which can be carried
out as seat work in an ordinary desk. In the second place, it
would really be an excellent thing if an enterprising teacher put
a work table in the corner of the room, or had her larger boys
make a small work bench with a vise or a loom for schoolroom
use. The fact that the normal children would sometimes use this
table or bench for their own interests would certainly not be an
objection. Nothing will make the deficient child so happy as vo-
cational work, nothing will better train and discipline him. While
it will take a little resourcefulness, planning and courage on the
part of the teacher to get vocational work started, the effort will

be repaid; because the defective child will be less of burden.
And again, when once the work is started the older children can
help a great deal to keep it going. In fact in some schools a
committee of older children could be enlisted and take most of
the responsibility. In these days we do not have to justify such
a suggestion; because it is recognized that such social coopera-
tion and helpfulness in the schoolroom are the best kind of edu-
cation for all concerned. The control of the great social problem
of feeblemindedness is a question of applied sociology. And it
is chiefly a vocational problem. Why not take the first steps to-
ward this control in the. schoolroom; and let future citizens assist
where they can? '

We make below a rather extended list of suggestions cour
cerning forms and methods of vocational work; because this
work offers the largest possibilities. Some suggestions are very
readily put into practice ; others will require a little scheming and
a slight expense ; but all of them are workable even under rural
school conditions. The teacher who becomes interested in a par-
ticular line of work like basketry or weaving will get assistance
from the handbooks mentioned at the end of this manual. In-
stead of trying to cover too many occupational activities, the
teacher will do well to single out a few, best adapted to her
children and to the circumstances.

Knitting

This is a silent, simple and very useful form of handwork
to adopt. Children with only a six or seven year old intelligence
can knit ; and recent experiences with Red Cross work have
shown that knitting can easily be introduced into the schoolroom.
The following articles can be made : muffler, wristlet, caps, socks,
mittens, doll's garments, afghan, wash glove, face cloth, cover
for baby's ball, etc. Simple arrangements can often be made for
the sale of articles, to at least repay the cost of materials.

Spool knitting

This form of toy knitting is adapted even to children of low
grade deficiency, and is excellent in many cases. Reins for play-
ing horse (colored or uncolored) are favorite articles of manu-

facture by this method. ]Mats, hot plate mats, and necklaces of
Dexter cotton Xo. 6 can be made by the same method (see
Reference Xo. 8).

Crocheting

This is more difficult than knitting, but may be adapted to
middle and high grade children. Jute, Germantown, raffia twine,
carpet warp and crochet cotton may be used. The coarser mate-
rial, like carpet warp or strips of cotton an inch or two in width,
is usually preferable. Large wooden hooks may then be used;
and rugs, knitting bags, -and book bags may then be made.

Sezving

This also is a most satisfactory form of handwork. An ex-
cellent outline, explaining different kinds of stitches, and giving
directions for making various articles is to be found in the 19 17
edition of Plans for Progress (pp. 1 15-137) published by the
State board of education. Patterns, specifications, etc., are given
for towels, bags, aprons, waists, underwear, bathrobe, blouses,
pillowcases and dress skirts. Simple forms of sewing and easy
problems may be adai:>ted to low grade children. Cross stitching
and darning designs are valuable.

Rag carpet nigs

This is an occupation, at once so simple, interesting and use-
ful that we give directions in full. Any rural teacher can take
advantage of the opportunty offered in making these old
fashioned rugs.

Let the children bring to school cast off clothing like under
garments, stockings, dresses, coats and skirts. Let this material
be cut or torn into strips by the deficient child, and have the
strips of similar color sewn together, end to end ; roll the strips
into balls.

Take three of these balls and tie their three ends together,
and have the child braid these strips tightly together. This
braided material can then be sewed together and made into any
shape of rug desired. If a round rug is desired, start with the end
of a braid in the center and keep winding into a circle or spiral.

The braids should be sewed so that both sides of the rug may be
used. If a square rug is desired, start in the center and shape in
square fashion. If an oval rug is desired, start at one side of
the center and lay the first coils of braid in jDarallel straight lines,
gradually working to the oval shape.

Weaving

Here is a field for work of many varieties. Small handlooms
may be obtained ; or may be improvised. A large frame for
shawl making could be made by a bright boy under direction.
Large and small mats, rugs and holders may be woven. Warp
thread, jute, and cotton or woolen strips may be used as mate-
rials. "Old knit underclothing is easily dyed and makes excellent
rugs." Hooked rugs may be made on a burlap foundation ; and
double braided rugs on wooden looms. Rag carpet may also be
woven.

Cord zvork

This is adapted to different grades of children and may be
attempted on either a small or large scale. Bracelets, doll's cur-
tains, shopping bags, watch fobs, hammocks may be mentioned.

Basketry

If the teacher has had experience in this handicraft or will
teach it to herself through one of the many practical handbooks,
she will find it an interesting occuj^ation to introduce. Baskets
may be made of reed, or of reed or rope foundation with raffia.
Rope or twine has many advantages for children. Braided native
materials may also be used, like corn husks, willowy cat-tails.

Raffia work

Raffia is a strong, pliable grass, which may be obtained either
in natural or dyed colors. It lends itself to many uses besides
basketry ; for it may be wound, woven, knitted or braided into
various articles like belts, picture frames, napkin rings, sewing
bags, etc.

Woodzvork

The opportunities here are so many that it is hardly necessary
to detail them. If the teacher is ready to secure a few necessary
tools, and with the cooperation of some of the older boys (or
girls) will put up a simple bench in the shed, basement or even
in the corner of her schoolroom; many kinds of woodwork will
suggest themselves. It is not necessary for the teacher to be a
carpenter or a cabinet maker ; nor is it necessary to have a large
fund for materials. Old boxes and odds and ends of lumber can
be utilized. Stools, stands, shelves, pencil racks, bird houses, —
many simple things for the school or the home can be made. The
assistance of "monitor pupils" will be particularly helpful, and
relieve the teacher.

Coping saw work

This form of woodwork is peculiarly fitted to schoolroom
conditions and can be easily adapted to the needs of even .rather
low grade children. The equipment and materials are inexpen-
sive; a regular work bench may be dispensed with; and the
work is clean. An unlimited variety of articles can be made,
presenting many degrees of difficulty to the child. Picture
puzzles (jig saw puzzles), are a favorite product. Dissected maps
can be made and used by the classes in geography. Indeed, much
of the handwork suggested can be correlated with the regular
school work of the normal children. The benefits are not limited
to the deficient child.

Special occupations

There is a group of occupations, which while not altogether
impractical in the ordinary schoolroom, require a little extra
equipment and training on the part of the teacher. Their value
in a special classroom has already been demonstrated ; and under
certain circumstances the regular teacher may find it well to
consider one or more of them. Handbooks giving detailed direc-
tions may be secured. Such occupations are brush-making ; chair
caning; leather work; metal work; cobbling; toymaking.

Home and school chores

Whenever possible the deficient child should be taught to do
errands and small tasks. This is good training for him, make$

mam

him more useful and promotes his self-respect. At school he
may be allowed to sweep and scrub the floors, dust, clean the
woodwork, clean the windows, fill the woodbox, black the stove,
collect the papers, sharpen the pencils, rake the yard. This
furnishes such excellent vocational training that he may well be
given the opportunity to clean the windows, etc., even oftener
than is absolutely necessary.

Home chores are equally important, and parents should be
encouraged to assign regular definite tasks in the kitchen, bed-
room, farm and shop. As already suggested, teachers should
point out to parents the value of such w^ork. The deficient child
should perform a certain number of these chores, -even if it is
more convenient that they be attended to by some one else. As
the child grows older and no longer can get any benefit out of
the academic work of the school, the advisability of his spending
at least a half of each day in helping at home may well be con-
sidered. It should always be remembered that the right kind of
work trains him in just those habits which he most needs; and
that reading and arithmetic have no power to strengthen his
mind.

Physical education

This is important, because motor or muscle training is
fundamental to other forms of training. Good posture, good
step, rhythm, quickness in muscular response, will improve the
general demeanor of the deficient child and help to make him
more alert. Therefore, any kind of setting-up exercises, march-
ing, calisthenics, and special physical exercises demanding motor
balance and control will have a value. Dancing and music are
often peculiarly effective. Games are beneficial both for mental
and physical reasons. So far as practical, the deficient child
should be permitted to join in the games and physical exercise
of the normal children. If some of these children are made to
take a responsible interest, they will arrange and adapt games
for the benefit of the deficient child.

Personal habits

Simple matters which often take care of themselves in
normal children, must be given special attention in the deficient

child. His everyday personal habits are too important to bt
neglected. While some of these things depend on the home, the
teacher can do a great deal to bring them up to standard. General
deportment, obedience, saying good morning, thank you, if you
please, etc., washing himself, tying his necktie and shoestrings,
keeping himself neat, shaking hands, showing signs of respect, — -
all the little manners and courtesies of everyday life are im-
portant, because taken altogether they will do more than anything
else to make the child like other children. They are the true
fundamentals in the education of the deficient child. Do not be
too zealous to teach him reading, when he does not know how
to use a handkerchief, and does not clean his nose.

A final word to the teacher

While we appreciate that many of the above suggestions
have no application to her particular problem, we hope that they
are numerous enough so that she can undertake to work out a
special program for her deficient pupil. She can start by givii^g
him at least one period of special seatwork, and then she can*
gradually add activities to this (often with the aid of her bright
pupils) until she will have established a new schedule for him. .<^

If she has any peculiar difficulties, we suggest that she address a
question to her suj^ervisor or to the office of the state board of
education. There is a department in this office which is anxious
to help her. In special cases where a psychological examination
of a child is desired by the teacher or the parent, this can also
be arranged for through your supervisor. On the next page
we append a list of books which contain helpful information.

We wish to repeat that wherever possible the teacher
should make the deficient child *'a family problem" in the
solution of which the older and brighter pupils may share.
Let her parcel out some of the minor responsibilities to these
pupils, and soon she will find that the special program
maintains itself and grows in possibiHties. A little initiative
on the part of the teacher, combined with ingenuity and interest
will go a long way toward improving the status of the deficient
school child.

wmm

SELECTED BOOK LIST

1. Anderson, Meta. Education of Defectives in the Public

Schools. World Book Co., Yonkers. 1917.

2. Bancroft, Jessie H. Games for Playground, Home, School
^ and Gymnasium. MacMillan Co., X. Y.

3. Gilnian, ]\Iary L. and Williams, Elizabeth. Seatwork and

Industrial Occupations. ^lacMillan Co., X. Y. 191 3.

,4. Jessup and Logue. Handicraft Book.

5. Johnson, George F. Toys and Toymaking. Longmans,

Green & Co., N. Y. 1912.

6. Plaisted, Laura L. Handiwork in Early Education. Ox-

ford University Press, Oxford. 1913.

7. Sage, Elizabeth and Cooley, Ana ]\L Occupations for

little Fingers. Scribners, X. Y. 1905.
'' (This book, contains many practical suggestions and

helpful illustrations.)

8. Special Class Teachers of Boston. The Boston Way.

The Rumford Press, Concord, X'^. H. 191 7.
(This book is the united work of the special class
teachers of Boston and an outline of their united ex-
perience. It can be highly recommended. The treat-
ment is concrete and practical.

9. Tinsley, Laura R. Practical and Artistic Basketry.

10. Weaver, Emily. Paper and Scissors in the Schoolroom.

11. White, Alary. Hozi' to make Baskets.

STANFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

To avoid fine, this book should be returned on
or before the date last stamped below.

-~- '4 . I92T

SEP 12 1922

1^330

AW «i7 1327

1926

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